7 August 2016

Transport Canberra brings a new vision for public transport to the ACT

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transport-canberra

The ACT’s new public transport agency Transport Canberra was officially launched today, making moving around Canberra easier and more convenient, providing more transport choices for Canberrans wherever they live and integrating buses and active travel options seamlessly with the light rail network.

To coincide with the launch, work has started on a new integrated transport ticketing system for buses and light rail across Canberra.

The work, which was allocated $3 million in the 2016-17 ACT Budget, will look at options to upgrade or replace the current MyWay system that is used for travel on ACTION buses and will be rolled out on light rail when it starts operating in late 2018/early 2019.

The Transport Canberra free City Loop service also started today, changing the way people move around the Canberra CBD and making public transport more frequent and easier to use, with a strong focus on customers.

Transport Canberra’s mandate is to deliver a quality public transport system that is convenient, efficient, affordable and reliable. It will be responsible for integrating buses with the light rail network, ensuring a single ticketing system, a central contact for information and coordinated timetabling. It will reallocate more than a million bus kilometres freed up by the first stage of light rail across the bus network.

Today’s launch of Transport Canberra is the next step in making public transport in the ACT even better, and ensuring our beautiful city remains the most liveable in the world. Transport Canberra will focus on improving public transport will help us manage Canberra’s growth, reduce congestion and protect our liveability.

The ACT Government is committed to providing a better experience for its customers and Transport Canberra will focus on making public transport a more attractive option for everyone, a genuine alternative to driving.

Minister for Transport and City Services Meegan Fitzharris said:

“The launch of Transport Canberra today is the most exciting change to public transport in Canberra’s history,” Minister Fitzharris said.

“We have created a new agency, but we are also backing it up with innovative ideas, policies and practical solutions to revolutionise our public transport and keep Canberra moving.

“By 2032 there will be almost 500,000 people living in Canberra, and if we don’t plan now and make positive changes to our transport system, congestion will cripple the lifestyles we all enjoy – we already know that without light rail, commuters from Gungahlin are looking at an hour-long trip to work in the morning. The time to think about solutions to those congestion problems is now and the answer is an integrated transport system for the people of Canberra.

“Our comprehensive survey of the ACT community has told us that Canberrans want public transport to be easy to use, to be there when they need it and to get people where they need to go on time.

“Transport Canberra will implement a range of public transport improvements over coming weeks, months and years, including improvements to ACTION to deliver a better bus service, a single ticketing system to ensure seamless travel between different modes, and a commitment to convenient travel in our city for everyone – no matter where you live.”

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http://www.cmd.act.gov.au/open_government/inform/act_government_media_releases/barr/2016/first-sod-turned-on-stage-one-of-city-wide-light-rail-network

Interesting that It only makes sense for light rail in the particular corridor because of the increase in population over the next 20 years. However we’re now going to pony up for the rest of the network too:

“The Government will be making further commitments on public transport in coming months, including on future stages of the light rail network – demonstrating our commitment to a city wide improvement of public transport.”

It should be clear that a vote for the current government will be a vote for a white elephant all over Canberra. Not sure how we’re expected to grow to half a million when half a million $PA is probably what it’ll cost to live here.

Charlotte Harper9:47 am 13 Jul 16

Agreed, @rommeldog56. We will look into ways to ensure the distinction is clearer to readers.

madelini said :

This article is basically a press release. Is the Riot Act the ACT Labor government’s official publication? (And will you publish this comment?)

The RiotACT is most certainly not the ACT Labor government’s official publication.

The first thing I did when I joined as editor late last year was contact the Canberra Liberals and the Greens to discuss sourcing potential regular columnists from their sides of politics to ensure our opinion writers were from across the spectrum. We have since brought on a former Liberal MLA in Greg Cornwell and a former senior Fairfax journalist, Neil Lade, who is a Greens supporter.

We work hard to present balanced news coverage. We will not shy away from publishing stories that are critical of any side of politics. It is our job to hold our representatives to account and to keep Canberrans informed so they can share their views on issues through our forums.

There will often be more news stories from the Government because they are in office and therefore actively implementing policies, not because of our take on their political leanings.

All that said, your radar is on the money with this article. It is a piece of paid content and marked as such (see tags). I wrote a follow up opinion piece here that will be more to your liking, I hope: http://the-riotact.com/will-the-city-loop-bus-be-a-hit-or-miss/180271

The “tag” that this is a paid advertisement isn’t very obvious really, being at the bottom (after it has been read) and tucked away with other tags. If it were obvious and at the beginning, I probably wouldn’t have read it as it would have been more identifiable as just ACT Labor/Greens spin.

Charlotte Harper8:54 am 13 Jul 16

This article is basically a press release. Is the Riot Act the ACT Labor government’s official publication? (And will you publish this comment?)

The RiotACT is most certainly not the ACT Labor government’s official publication.

The first thing I did when I joined as editor late last year was contact the Canberra Liberals and the Greens to discuss sourcing potential regular columnists from their sides of politics to ensure our opinion writers were from across the spectrum. We have since brought on a former Liberal MLA in Greg Cornwell and a former senior Fairfax journalist, Neil Lade, who is a Greens supporter.

We work hard to present balanced news coverage. We will not shy away from publishing stories that are critical of any side of politics. It is our job to hold our representatives to account and to keep Canberrans informed so they can share their views on issues through our forums.

There will often be more news stories from the Government because they are in office and therefore actively implementing policies, not because of our take on their political leanings.

All that said, your radar is on the money with this article. It is a piece of paid content and marked as such (see tags). I wrote a follow up opinion piece here that will be more to your liking, I hope: http://the-riotact.com/will-the-city-loop-bus-be-a-hit-or-miss/180271

This article is basically a press release. Is the Riot Act the ACT Labor government’s official publication? (And will you publish this comment?)

wildturkeycanoe7:59 am 10 Jul 16

“providing more transport choices for Canberrans wherever they live”
“for everyone – no matter where you live”
“making public transport a more attractive option for everyone, a genuine alternative to driving.”
“to be there when they need it and to get people where they need to go on time.”

So far, it seems to be a plan for all Canberrans, but;
“we already know that without light rail, commuters from Gungahlin are looking at an hour-long trip to work in the morning.”
Only the Civic to Gungahlin region has been addressed by the government. There is a lot of fanfare about the new agency making life better for everyone, but no concrete plans to address the issues for anybody else except those on the light rail route? How long before the rest of Canberra sees any public transport improvements? Molonglo and west Belconnen are expanding areas, as will be the CSIRO site. Without improving road congestion, public transport in these areas will be subject to the same travel times as automobiles. Where is the planning, where is the foresight, for the rest of Canberra?
3 lane roads such as Parkes way have not made travel into the city any better for southerners. Since completion, delays have been in place thanks to all the continuing work around the Civic Pool and Constitution Avenue. William Hovell Drive, Cotter Road, Adelaide Avenue, Belconnen Way, Hindmarsh Drive, Morsehead Drive, the Monaro Highway and many others are stop start traffic jams and cause longer travel times than for those living in Gungahlin. What are the solutions? When are we going to see some ideas, apart from multi billion dollar daydreams of rail networks some twenty or thirty years from now?
Have the side effects of the tram been considered, such as the extra delays for people travelling east west across Northbourne?
So far, there is little promise for making public transport attractive for anybody but the Inner North, what about everybody else? We are all paying for it but most getting little to nothing back.
The government has lots of plans for increasing the population density on the fringes of the territory, such as Kippax, Molonglo, west Belconnen and the western side of the Murrumbidgee River in Tuggeranong. Where is the associated planning for transport infrastructure to cope with all these extra people? It isn’t a problem that can be dealt with after the tram funds have gone dry, we need it now. Just ask the rest of Canberra what they think and not just those in the electorates of Yerrabi and Kurrajong. Oh, wait, you will be on the 15th October. Hopefully Canberra will let you know what they really think of “Transport Canberra” and this incompetent Labor government.

Garfield said :

Megan Fitzharris Occupations – Public Servant, Political Staffer, Politician .

I can see they picked the right person for the job. Her credentials in transport are impeccable .
Blow out city here we come.

she also came to Australia from NZ when she was 18 . Suspiciously the same age as you qualify to get the dole as a Kiwi .

Megan Fitzharris Occupations – Public Servant, Political Staffer, Politician .

I can see they picked the right person for the job. Her credentials in transport are impeccable .
Blow out city here we come.

wildturkeycanoe said :

bringontheevidence said :

dungfungus said :

So the cost of light rail just went up another 3 million.

Government also admits there is an issue with myway and it needs replacing?

Why not just adipt whatever payment system sydney uses. Save money and allow us to travel to sydney.

While were at it mske northborne a toll road to cover the costof of light rail expansions.

Actually they are looking at using opal, the NSW system. But from an interoperability view point, eg use same card in nsw or act.

Btw re saving money by using someone else’s system you do realise they did exactly that with my way? The used the Perth system more or less off the shelf. Would have been hard to use opal though as it wasn’t up and running and had and still does gave quite a number of issues.

It looks like Opal Cards are on the way out already. According to Seven News the other night, the NSW government is looking at replacing the cards with tap and go technology meaning you simply have to use your credit card.

Think you will find that technology is more an addon rather than complete replacement.

They have had this in London for a few years now (though only works on UK and some European credit/debit cards). Both London and Sydney use the same base technology which is provided by Cubic systems.

What if you want to use a bus and not have them track your every move? Just pay cash?

Still doesn’t make sense to charge for public busses the same it doesn’t make sense to charge people to use footpaths. If you charged for the footpath how many people would just walk on the road?

bringontheevidence said :

dungfungus said :

So the cost of light rail just went up another 3 million.

Government also admits there is an issue with myway and it needs replacing?

Why not just adipt whatever payment system sydney uses. Save money and allow us to travel to sydney.

While were at it mske northborne a toll road to cover the costof of light rail expansions.

Actually they are looking at using opal, the NSW system. But from an interoperability view point, eg use same card in nsw or act.

Btw re saving money by using someone else’s system you do realise they did exactly that with my way? The used the Perth system more or less off the shelf. Would have been hard to use opal though as it wasn’t up and running and had and still does gave quite a number of issues.

It looks like Opal Cards are on the way out already. According to Seven News the other night, the NSW government is looking at replacing the cards with tap and go technology meaning you simply have to use your credit card.

Think you will find that technology is more an addon rather than complete replacement.

They have had this in London for a few years now (though only works on UK and some European credit/debit cards). Both London and Sydney use the same base technology which is provided by Cubic systems.

Kim Huynh said :

If the Government is genuinely “committed to … making public transport a more attractive option for everyone” with “seamless travel between different modes,” then it will allow buses to pick up and drop off passengers directly at tram stops, rather than expecting people to Walk between bus and tram stops, Wait along the way at pedestrian signals, and Wonder if they will have to wait up to an hour because they have missed their connecting service.

Not quite.
If that was what government really wanted, they would have taken the appropriate time to sort:
a) what is the problem we are trying to solve
b) what are the possible solutions
c) what technologies are coming on line that can also be examined
d) which of these possibilities best meets our needs
e) what are all the costs, direct & indirect
f ) which ones can we afford
g) what are the social implications of implimentation

Then they would have presented ALL the acquired information to the community who pays them, in a reasonably accessible & digestible format, with an explanation of how they had come to the decision they had come to.

I think it’s called “due diligence”? Chronically lacking in government decision making at this time.

If the Government is genuinely “committed to … making public transport a more attractive option for everyone” with “seamless travel between different modes,” then it will allow buses to pick up and drop off passengers directly at tram stops, rather than expecting people to Walk between bus and tram stops, Wait along the way at pedestrian signals, and Wonder if they will have to wait up to an hour because they have missed their connecting service.

bringontheevidence said :

dungfungus said :

So the cost of light rail just went up another 3 million.

Government also admits there is an issue with myway and it needs replacing?

Why not just adipt whatever payment system sydney uses. Save money and allow us to travel to sydney.

While were at it mske northborne a toll road to cover the costof of light rail expansions.

Actually they are looking at using opal, the NSW system. But from an interoperability view point, eg use same card in nsw or act.

Btw re saving money by using someone else’s system you do realise they did exactly that with my way? The used the Perth system more or less off the shelf. Would have been hard to use opal though as it wasn’t up and running and had and still does gave quite a number of issues.

It looks like Opal Cards are on the way out already. According to Seven News the other night, the NSW government is looking at replacing the cards with tap and go technology meaning you simply have to use your credit card.

dungfungus said :

So the cost of light rail just went up another 3 million.

Government also admits there is an issue with myway and it needs replacing?

Why not just adipt whatever payment system sydney uses. Save money and allow us to travel to sydney.

While were at it mske northborne a toll road to cover the costof of light rail expansions.

Actually they are looking at using opal, the NSW system. But from an interoperability view point, eg use same card in nsw or act.

Btw re saving money by using someone else’s system you do realise they did exactly that with my way? The used the Perth system more or less off the shelf. Would have been hard to use opal though as it wasn’t up and running and had and still does gave quite a number of issues.

rommeldog56 said :

pink little birdie said :

“By 2032 there will be almost 500,000 people living in Canberra, and if we don’t plan now and make positive changes to our transport system, congestion will cripple the lifestyles we all enjoy – we already know that without light rail, commuters from Gungahlin are looking at an hour-long trip to work in the morning.”

I think the 500,000 population is the problem.
Why are we actively trying to increase ACT popation.

It keeps sounding to me like you are still lthinking that more people, means more demand, means more production, means more jobs, more money in the system etc etc.

Actually, since we don’t make anything anymore, more people mostly just means greater demand on limited resources. That means pressure on schools, hospitals, transport etc etc. That ususally leads to various sorts of social unrest.

I think we need a better plan.

I can’t see how population of this town can increase unless there are the jobs to come with it. At the moment we have a public service industry (which is going to reduce in line with the wishes of everyone outside of canberra), an IT industry (which could be shifted anywhere, at the whim of a couple of large companies that essentially control it) and an education industry with our universities. Education is probably the real future of canberra – though overseas students will account for most the population growth of the town. Im not sure where the ACT MLA’s have a plan to get our population to that point. I suspect their only plan is that they won’t be in power when the time comes to count the figures they supplied.

But all the billion dollar projects are creating hundreds of jobs. Even if those people are from elsewhere and commute they have to get their morning coffee from the local shop.

New Bumper stickers. “Canberra – only our lakes are stagnant!”

pink little birdie said :

“By 2032 there will be almost 500,000 people living in Canberra, and if we don’t plan now and make positive changes to our transport system, congestion will cripple the lifestyles we all enjoy – we already know that without light rail, commuters from Gungahlin are looking at an hour-long trip to work in the morning.”

I think the 500,000 population is the problem.
Why are we actively trying to increase ACT popation.

It keeps sounding to me like you are still lthinking that more people, means more demand, means more production, means more jobs, more money in the system etc etc.

Actually, since we don’t make anything anymore, more people mostly just means greater demand on limited resources. That means pressure on schools, hospitals, transport etc etc. That ususally leads to various sorts of social unrest.

I think we need a better plan.

I can’t see how population of this town can increase unless there are the jobs to come with it. At the moment we have a public service industry (which is going to reduce in line with the wishes of everyone outside of canberra), an IT industry (which could be shifted anywhere, at the whim of a couple of large companies that essentially control it) and an education industry with our universities. Education is probably the real future of canberra – though overseas students will account for most the population growth of the town. Im not sure where the ACT MLA’s have a plan to get our population to that point. I suspect their only plan is that they won’t be in power when the time comes to count the figures they supplied.

So the cost of light rail just went up another 3 million.

Government also admits there is an issue with myway and it needs replacing?

Why not just adipt whatever payment system sydney uses. Save money and allow us to travel to sydney.

While were at it mske northborne a toll road to cover the costof of light rail expansions.

It was very annoying to lose my nxtbus bookmark and get the glossy new propaganda website instead – it was not easy to find again and should be more obvious.

“By 2032 there will be almost 500,000 people living in Canberra, and if we don’t plan now and make positive changes to our transport system, congestion will cripple the lifestyles we all enjoy – we already know that without light rail, commuters from Gungahlin are looking at an hour-long trip to work in the morning.”

I think the 500,000 population is the problem.
Why are we actively trying to increase ACT popation.

It keeps sounding to me like you are still lthinking that more people, means more demand, means more production, means more jobs, more money in the system etc etc.

Actually, since we don’t make anything anymore, more people mostly just means greater demand on limited resources. That means pressure on schools, hospitals, transport etc etc. That ususally leads to various sorts of social unrest.

I think we need a better plan.

I’m not convinced that tan is your colour Meegan. Camel is a better shade. 🙂

Apart from that, the plan looks the goods

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